Tax return outsourcing and systems for protecting data

ABSTRACT

A financial services outsourcing method or system facilitates a direct service provider&#39;s ability to outsource financial services to numerous ultimate clients. The financial services are outsourced to an outsourcing group abroad. Ultimate client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials are loaded onto a remotely accessible part of a host server located in the United States. The host server provides access to a remote client computer of information concerning the ultimate client specific financial files and corresponding reference materials. The access may be limited to limited screen shot access. Outsourced personnel are retained to perform financial service projects (e.g., prepare individual tax returns) for ultimate clients of direct financial services firms. The outsourced personnel perform the financial service projects while located outside the United States. The status of the financial service project is monitored and reported.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

Priority is hereby claimed to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/428,998, filed Nov. 25, 2002, the content of which is herebyexpressly incorporated by reference herein its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to systems and processes for facilitating theprovision of tax return preparation services. In other aspects, theinvention relates to systems and processes to facilitate the outsourcingof tax return preparation services and other types of financialservices.

2. Description of Background Information

Many accounting firms wish to preserve and grow market share in the taxreturn preparation business and to maximize their profit margin for suchservices. To do this, they must accommodate their clients in such areasas cost, responsiveness, and quality, while minimizing their own coststo preserve the accounting firm's profit.

Non-accounting industries such as banking and insurance have beenoutsourcing various data processing tasks to India. Suggestions havebeen made to accounting firms to outsource tax return preparationservices to India, to thereby reduce the per-return labor costexperienced by the accounting firm. There is a need for systems andmethods to facilitate such outsourcing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is further described in the detailed descriptionwhich follows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limitingexemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals representsimilar parts throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing background approaches to tax returnpreparation;

FIGS. 2-4 are schematic diagrams of financial services outsourcingsystems;

FIGS. 5-9 show various embodiments of computer systems that may beemployed in the systems of FIGS. 2-4;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary tax outsourcing form;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams of processes by which various pieces of anoutsourcing system may interact with each other during an outsourcingprocess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An object of the present invention is to provide systems, methods, andvarious tools that facilitate the outsourcing of tax return preparationservices to a servicing group outside of the country. The invention maybe directed to systems, apparatus, or features as described hereinrelated to such an object.

According to one aspect of the invention, a system or method, or any oneor more subparts thereof, is provided for tax outsourcing. For a givenCPA firm, tax filer specific tax files and image files of correspondingreference materials are loaded onto a remotely accessible part of aserver located in the United States. The server may be a servercontrolled by the CPA firm, and comprise tax software for use by the CPAfirm. The server may be controlled by an ASP organization, and comprisetax software for use by plural independent CPA firms provided withaccess to that server. The CPA firm retains outsourced personnel toperform tax return preparation services on behalf of the CPA firm. Theoutsourcing personnel perform the tax return preparation services whilebeing physically located outside the United States. In a specificembodiment, the outsourced personnel are located in India.

The retained personnel are provided with limited screen shot access tothe remotely accessible server in the United States. Such access in oneaspect of the invention is provided via the Internet. In accordance withanother embodiment, such access is provided via a connection-orientedend point to end point high bandwidth transmission line. In oneembodiment, the transmission line comprises a T1 line. The retainedpersonnel prepare a tax return through a remote screen shot limitedclient located outside the United States connected to the server locatedin the United States. A status monitoring and reporting mechanism may beprovided. In accordance with certain aspects of the invention, such astatus monitoring and reporting mechanism may comprise a web trackingserver accessible by the outsourcing personnel and by the CPA firm to beable to determine the status of the tax return preparation process atany given point throughout the process, through completion of the returnand filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

The method for tax outsourcing may further comprise an intermediaryservice firm interacting with the retained outsourcing personnel throughthe use of a servicing computer system, and interacting with plural CPAfirms through use of the servicing computer system.

The CPA firm interviews the tax filer and obtains supportingdocumentation for that tax filer's tax return. The supportingdocumentation may comprise, for example, the last season tax return asfiled, receipts and summary information regarding finances, a W-2 form,1099 forms, and so on. The CPA firm or the intermediary service firmmakes sure that a tax file is set up which is compatible with a giventax software package (e.g., ProSystem fx), and renders each of thesesupporting documents readable by a computer, i.e., electronic. In theillustrated embodiment, each of the supporting documents is scanned intoan image file such as a TIFF or PDF file.

The outsourcing personnel are only given access to the tax file andsupporting documentation via an outsourcing computer system. Theoutsourcing computer system comprises terminals. Each person within theoutsourcing group is provided access to an outsourcing group computersystem terminal within a secure area, and that area does not allow theoutsourcing personnel to have access to any paper or writing materialsfor marking notes and information on the paper. In addition, no othertypes of storage devices can be carried in or out of the secure area bythe outsourcing personnel.

The terminals only provide image information concerning the tax file andsupporting documentation pertaining to a given tax return being workedon by that outsourcing person. No detachable memory devices (e.g. floppydiscs or CD-ROMs) can be used to locally store data and carry that dataoutside of the secure area. The terminals of the outsourcing groupcomputer system provide thin client screen shot images and the userinterface of the tax processing software. The processing is performed atthe hosting site which is located in the United States, and iscontrolled either by the CPA firm or by the intermediary services firm.Alternatively, or in addition, the tax software and the tax file may beon an ASP (Application Service Provider) web site which is accessibleonly through limited screen shot image access (e.g., using PC anywhereor Citrix independent computing architecture technology). In addition,any data pertaining to the processing or the information being processedis retained on the hosting site, and such information is not accessibleat the outsourcing group computer system or at any of its terminals. Theonly thing that is accessible is the screen shots of the user interface.

Outsourcing to an outsourcing group abroad with an intermediary servicesfirm computer system and an outsourcing group computer system, forexample, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, can be used in combination with amixed outsourcing process. Such a mixed outsourcing process can involvethe use of tax return outsourcing during the United States tax season.During an initial stage of the United States tax season, lowerend(smaller priced tax return services for individual tax filers) can beoutsourced to the outsourcing group, allowing the United Statespersonnel to work on higher-end (i.e. higher priced tax returns andother CPA services for corporations and businesses) at that early stageof the United States season, thus allowing the higher-rate US personnelto put priority attention to the higher-margin, higher rate servicesrequired by corporations and businesses. Personnel and resources can bemanaged throughout the year, for example, by switching to accountingfirms in Australia at a later time period during the same year,providing Australia tax return preparation services utilizing the samepersonnel of the same outsourcing group and utilizing the sameintermediary services firm computer system and outsourcing groupcomputer system. Using the systems as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4,alternatively or in addition, bookkeeping outsourcing can be performedon behalf of clients of the CPA firms in the United States andAustralia, or in one or more other countries. Those services can bespread out through other times of the year, thus allowing more steadyutilization of the personnel in the outsourcing group.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a tax outsourcingmethod may be utilized by a given CPA firm. The given CPA firm may loadtax filer—specific tax files and image files of corresponding referencematerials onto a remotely accessible part of a server located in theUnited States. That server may be configured so that it provides limitedscreen shot access to a remote client working outside the United States.The server may be controlled by the CPA firm and may comprise taxsoftware for use by the CPA firm. The server may be controlled by an ASP(Application Service Provider) organization and may comprise taxsoftware for use by plural CPA firms provided with access to thatserver.

A CPA firm may retain for use by the CPA firm, designated outsourcingindividuals, such personnel being located outside the United States (inIndia in the illustrated embodiment) while performing services on behalfof the CPA firm. The retained personnel are provided with limited screenshot access to the server via, for example, the Internet or via aconnection-oriented high bandwidth transmission line (e.g., T1). Theretained outsourcing personnel are instructed to prepare assigned taxreturns through a remote client located outside the United States (inIndia in the illustrated embodiment) connected to the server, whichprovides limited screen shot access to the tax software, the tax filerspecific tax files, and to the corresponding image files. The work timeof the outsourcing personnel is monitored, and the personnel areinstructed to perform other related and unrelated tasks throughout agiven period (year, tax season or any other designated time period),when the retained personnel are being underutilized.

FIG. 1 is a background diagram showing certain tools used to improve theefficiency and profitability of tax return preparation services. Block10 refers to paperless work environment technologies and processes.Block 12 notes the use of software aids to help with the tax returnpreparation process. Block 14 shows that improvements in workflow canhave an impact on the efficiency of tax return preparation services.Block 16 shows the importance of workflow processes involving supervisorand junior tax preparers. A hierarchy involving lower billing ratejunior tax preparers, which can be supervised by more experience higherbilling rates supervisors at the appropriate times, can result in highquality tax returns performed at a low cost.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a tax return outsourcing process andsystem. The legal entities are shown in the top half of the diagram,while the corresponding computing systems are shown in the bottom halfof the diagram. Tax filers including tax filers n, tax filer n+1 and taxfiler n+2, etc., employ a given CPA firm 20 to prepare individual taxreturns for the respective tax filers. CPA firm 20 delegates the initialtax return preparation services to an outsourcing group 22 abroad (inIndia in the illustrated embodiment). Outsourcing group 22 comprises aplurality of individual tax preparing personnel 23.

CPA firm 20 utilizes a CPA firm computing system 30. Outsourcing group22 utilizes an outsourcing group computing system 32. CPA firm computingsystem 30 has a direct line connection 30 to outsourcing group computingsystem 32 via, for example, a connection-oriented end point to end pointhigh bandwidth transmission line (e.g. a leased T1). The two computingsystems shown at the bottom of FIG. 2 may also communicate via email 37,and also have Internet access 34 which provides them access to a webserver 36. Web server 36 may, in the illustrated embodiment, becontrolled by CPA firm 20, or by outsourcing group 22. Web server 36provides web tracking information. For each significant event of theoutsourced tax preparation process, an update is provided to web server36 of the status of the tax return preparation process for a given taxreturn for a given tax filer. Accordingly, the CPA firm or theoutsourcing group may, through their respective computing systems,through Internet access, access the web server and determine the statusof the tax return preparation at any given point.

FIG. 2 has one CPA firm. That firm represents its own tax filers(customers). The CPA firm deals directly with the outsourcing group.Data needed for tax preparation filing is sent back and forth betweenthe CPA firm computing system and the outsourcing group computing systemvia, for example, FTP (file transfer protocol) technology.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a tax return outsourcing process andsystem. Legal entities are shown in the upper half of this diagram, andcomputing systems corresponding those legal entities are show in thebottom half of this diagram.

In this diagram, CPA firms 40 outsource tax return preparation servicesthrough the interaction with an intermediary service firm 44. Theintermediary service firm 44 deals directly with each of the CPA firms40, and deals directly with the outsourcing group 42 abroad and itspersonnel 46 (India in the illustrated embodiment). Each CPA firm 40represents its own set of tax filers n, n+1, n+2, etc. Each CPA firm 40has its own computer system 50. The intermediary service firm 44 has itsown computer system 54. The outsourcing group 42 has its computer system52. The connection between the intermediary service firm computer system54 and the outsourcing group computer system 52 may be via a direct lineconnection 56 which may be of a type that is shown and described abovewith respect to FIG. 2. In addition, a web tracking server 58 asdescribed above may be provided, which may be accessed via the Internet60. The CPA firms 40, the intermediary service firm 44, and theoutsourcing group 42, may communicate via email 53 for purposes ofproviding status information, asking questions and providing responsesto questions throughout the process of preparing a given tax return.

FIG. 4 is another diagram of a tax return outsourcing process andsystem. Legal entities are shown in the upper half to this diagram;computing systems corresponding to those entities are shown on thebottom half of this diagram. The general process of performingoutsourcing services through a service provider may be as described aspreviously. A service provider is shown 74 which interacts with CPAfirms 70, each CPA firm having its own tax filer customers. Anoutsourcing group 72, dealt with via the service provider 74, is locatedabroad, (India in the illustrated embodiment). Each CPA firm 70 has acomputer system 80. The service provider 74 has a computer system 84.The outsourcing group 72 has a computer system 83. All data, tax filesand supporting documentation is retained in one or more hosting sites 86in the United States. All of that information is accessible only througha screen shot image thin client on the outsourcing group computer system83. A web server 88 is provided web tracking.

FIG. 5 shows a CPA Computer System (CS) 90 and an outsourcing groupComputer System (CS) 92, with certain software and files included withinthose computer systems. CPA CS comprises tax software 94, and a tax fileand supporting documentation 96 in electronic form (in the illustratedembodiment, scanned image files TIFF or PDF). A tax file and supportingdocumentation are provided for each tax filer. Corresponding taxsoftware 98 and tax files and supporting documentation 100 are providedat the outsourcing group computer system 92. Tax software is provided ateach processing point end. That is, tax software is provided at thecomputer system of the CPA and is also provided on the computer systemon the outsourcing group. In addition, data and files for that softwareis provided at each processing point end. Data may be exchanged betweenthese points (i.e. between the CPA firm computer system and theoutsourcing computer system). Such a data exchange may be performedusing, for example, FTP. The block diagram of FIG. 5 corresponds, forexample, to the processing systems shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 6 shows a diagram of the CPA computer system 110 and a hosting site112, illustrating the software and data provided on each of thosecomputer systems. The embodiment of FIG. 6 may be performed inconnection with the outsourcing process and systems in FIG. 4. Taxsoftware 114 is provided on the CPA computer system 110 and tax software116 provided on the hosting site, for use by the outsourcing group via ascreen shot image limited thin client (e.g. using Citrix independentcomputing architecture technology). Corresponding tax files andsupporting documentation 118, and 120 also reside on the respectivecomputer systems. Data may be exchanged between the CPA computer systemand the hosting site. Such a data exchange may be performed, forexample, using FTP technology. The data can be exchanged through adirect connection, for example, a leased T1 line with a dedicated endpoint to end point access to and from CPA computer systems and thehosting site computer system and each end.

The data (comprising the tax file or any portion of the supportingdocumentation) is not sent to the outsourcing group. Only screen shotimages are provided to the outsourcing group computer system. In thereverse direction from the outsourcing group computer system to thehosting site, only key strokes and user interface information isprovided.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of some of the computer systems and thesoftware and data carried by each of those computer systems. The systemsillustrated include a CPACS 120 an ASP server 122, an outsourcing CS124, and a hosting site 126. The embodiment of FIG. 7 may be used inconnection with the tax return outsourcing process and system shown inFIG. 4. In this diagram, the tax software and the tax files are providedon an ASP (application service provider) server. The tax software andtax files are not provided elsewhere. The tax software and tax files maybe provided elsewhere, under limited circumstances. However, theembodiment show in FIG. 7 does not specifically show such a case. Theoutsourcing group is given access to the ASP service via a hosting site126. The outsourcing group computer system 124 is provided access to thehosting site 126 through a screen shot image thin client which interactswith the screen shot image server provided on the hosting site. Thescreen shot image server on the hosting site interacts through a browserwith the ASP server to provide access to the tax software and tax fileson the ASP server. The hosting site has a set of information for eachtax filer. The set of information for each tax filer is identified inaccordance with the CPA firm to which that tax filer is associated. Eachsuch set of information can include, for example, an ASP log ininformation, tax filer information, instructions for the outsourcer forthat tax return for that tax filer, annotations provided by the personwithin the outsourcing group working on the return, and the supportingdocumentation for the given return being worked on. The CPA computersystem is provided access to each such set of information residing onthe hosting site through the use of a browser.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the CPA computer system 130, a hostingsite 132, an ASP server 134 and outsourcing group computer system 136.The types of software and data provided on each of these computersystems is shown in accordance with another embodiment which may beutilized in connection with the tax return outsourcing process andsystem show in FIG. 4. Here, the tax software and tax files are providedat the ASP server 134. The outsourcing group is given direct access totax file and tax software via a browser access to the ASP server 134.The outsourcing group computer system 136 is provided access to thehosting site 132 through the use of screen shot image server and thinclient, and in a manner similar to that illustrated in FIG. 7. For eachtax filer, a set of information is provided on the hosting site. Suchinformation may comprise tax filer information, instructions for theoutsourcing group for that given tax return, annotations provided by theperson working on the return at the outsourcing group, and supportingdocumentation associated with the tax file being worked on. The CPAcomputer system is provided access to each such set of information viaits own browser.

FIG. 9 shows a CPA computer system 140, hosting site 142, an ASP server144, and an outsourcing group computer system 146. The tax software andtax files are provided on the ASP server 144. The outsourcing group isgiven direct access to the tax file and tax software via a screen shotimage client. Otherwise, the features shown in FIG. 9 correspondsubstantially to those shown on FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a form, which may be either electronic or on paper form, thatmay be used with, for example, tax return outsourcing process andsystems shown in FIG. 2 and further illustrated in the process diagramof FIG. 11.

Toward the top of the form, information may be provided regarding theCPA firm, the client name, the social security number of the tax filer,and the firm contact at the CPA firm which is the contact that should beworked with by the outsourcing group personnel working on a given taxreturn. The tax software tax return number is provided which uniquelyidentifies the tax return. A CPA firm identification may be alsoprovided for uniquely identifying the CPA firm. The control number mayalso be provided for purposes of allowing identification of thisparticular form. The email of the CPA firm contact is provided as well.A number of items indicative of the type of return to be worked on areprovided in the middle of the form. The relevant item to be worked oncan be marked on the form. A log is provided for keeping track oftransmissions to India and transmissions from India. Each transmissionis logged by date, who performed the transmission, and the FTP filename. The transmissions from India are kept track of by date, the FTPfolder name, and the person who restored the information to the taxsoftware.

FIG. 11 shows a process which can be performed, for example, by the taxreturn outsourcing process system shown in FIG. 2. In an initial part ofthe process, a tax filer is interviewed and information is obtained fromthe tax filer and provided to the CPA firm personnel. Such informationcan include the prior year return and supporting documentation. The CPAfirm personnel then provides the tax file and electronic versions of thesupporting documentation to the CPA firm computer system. CPA firmpersonnel may do this by scanning the supporting documentation andproducing image files which can be stored on the CPA firm computersystem. When this is done, an event is automatically generated forsending to the web tracking server indicating that the tax returnpreparation process is at this stage (i.e. tax file and e-doc(supporting documentation) information ready and stored on the CPA firmcomputer system).

Then, the tax file, e-doc, and instructions for the outsourcing groupare sent from the CPA firm computer system to the outsourcing groupcomputer system. This can be performed by a direct exchange ofinformation over the direct line shown in FIG. 2. An event communicationis then concurrently sent to the web tracking server indicating that theprocess is at this stage. The outsourcing group will then provide anotification so that the outsourcing group personnel can assign thereturn to an individual preparer.

In the illustrated embodiment, this assignment to an individual prepareroccurs at a time in the morning which corresponds to the evening time inthe United States. When it is evening in the United States, it is thefollowing morning in India. The individual preparer in India is assignedto the tax return and starts working on it early that day for completionof the return by that evening, India time. Accordingly, the return willbe ready and complete by the beginning (morning US time) of the dayfollowing when the instructions, tax file and e-doc were sent to theoutsourcing group.

When the return is processed by the assigned individual preparer inIndia, this is done through the outsourcing group computer system. Whenthis happens another event indication is sent to the web trackingserver.

Then, if necessary, the individual preparer, using the outsourcing groupcomputer system, will email questions to be answered by the CPA firmpersonnel (specifically the contact person identified in the form). TheCPA firm personnel, using the CPA firm computer system, will thenprepare a response to the questions and email them back to theoutsourcing group computer system. When this happens, another eventindication is provided to the web tracking server, indicating that theoverall tax preparation process for this return is at a stage whereanswers have been provided to the outsourcing group computer system inresponse to the questions of the individual preparer in India.

The individual preparer then, using the outsourcing group computersystem, completes the return and provides annotations in the tax file.The tax software, if it is ProSystem fx, comprises a footnote functionwhich will allow a footnote to be provided at each line throughout thetax return. Within any given potential footnote, the individual preparermay provide either written notes or an image document or file to bereferred to for purposes of annotations so that the reviewer at the CPAfirm can understand the rationale and basis for the information providedin a given part of the tax return. The complete return and annotationsare then sent from the outsourcing group computer system to the CPA firmcomputer system. The CPA firm personnel will review the return. Anynecessary filer involvement will be then handled. For example, the filermay review the return and sign it. The return is then filed eithermanually or electronically with the IRS. When this happens, anotherevent indication may be provided to the web tracking server.

FIG. 12 shows a process which can be performed, for example, by the taxreturn outsourcing system (or financial services outsourcing system)shown in FIG. 3 et seq. In an initial part of the process, a tax fileris interviewed and information is obtained from the tax filer andprovided to the CPA firm personnel. Such information can include theprior year return and supporting documentation. The CPA firm personnelthen provides the tax file and electronic versions of the supportingdocumentation to the CPA firm computer system. The CPA firm personnelmay do this by scanning the supporting documentation and producing imagefiles which can be stored on the CPA firm computer system. The CPA firmthen accesses the intermediary service provider (ISP) computer systemand web tracking server through use of the CPA firm computer system, andtransfers the tax file and electronic versions of the supportingdocumentation to the ISP computer system. The supervisor of theoutsourcing group personnel, through use of the outsourcing groupcomputer system, will log into the ISP computer system. If thesupervisor determines that the information is not suitable in one way oranother, the supervisor may request information by logging requests forsuch information or questions on line through the ISP computer system.

Thereafter, the supervisor will assign the tax return to an individualpreparer by identifying such assignment on the ISP computer system.

At that point, the individual preparer may log on to the ISP computersystem and process the return. If the return is not acceptable orcomplete for one reason or another, or if the information being used bythe individual preparer is incomplete or requires clarification, theindividual preparer may request information or provide specificquestions on the ISP computer system for retrieval and review by CPAfirm personnel. When such requested information has been logged with theISP computer system, an email notification is automatically generatedand forwarded to the CPA firm computer system to alert the appropriateCPA firm personnel. The appropriate CPA personnel, upon receiving thealert email notification, will log into the ISP computer system andsubmit the clarified, information into the ISP computer system forretrieval by the outsourcing group personnel. At that point, theindividual preparer logs onto the ISP computer system and completes theprocessing of the return, considering the responses provided by the CPAfirm personnel. Once the return is processed, a supervisor from theoutsourcing group personnel logs into the ISP computer system andreviews the return. If the supervisor has comments, the comments may belogged into the ISP computer system, and at which point the individualpreparer will then log onto the ISP computer system and complete orrevise processing of the return taking into account the supervisorcomments.

If the supervisor does not have comments regarding the return, thesupervisor may verify that the return is acceptable, by indicating suchon the ISP computer system page.

At this point, the complete return is submitted to the ISP computersystem, along with annotations. The CPA personnel may then access thereturn by accessing the ISP computer system and review the return.Thereafter, any tax filer involvement required in connection with thecompletion of the return may be carried out.

In tax preparation situations not involving an online system such asthat described herein, tax returns may be received in January, February,and early March, while the returns are not started until the middle ofMarch of a given tax year. A given tax filer may retain the accountingfirm, and information concerning that tax filer may be logged into asystem of the accounting firm, such as a file to be placed in a filecabinet. The preparer will, at some point, start preparation of thereturn. The preparer will pull the file, organize the file, and reviewthe last year return. The preparer will input data, look for missinginformation, and generate a list of questions in writing. The questionswill be sent to the responsible person within the accounting firm. Theresponsible person will attempt to contact the client by telephone toaddress the questions. Once the questions are addressed, the tax returnis completed, and at which point the tax return is reviewed by a taxdepartment or project manager.

With the systems, for example, of FIGS. 2-5, the preparation, questiongeneration, communication with the tax filer, and the completion of thereturn may all be outsourced to outsourcing group personnel. Thecompleted return is then reviewed by a tax department or project managerof the CPA firm which directly represents the tax filer. Suchoutsourcing can occur as soon as the return is received by theaccounting firm, i.e., in January, February, or early March, and not ata late date such as the middle of March, which is the time at which someaccounting firms may start processing certain returns.

The process shown in FIG. 12, described above, involves the use of anISP computer system. In the illustrated embodiment, the ISP computersystem comprises a web tracking server. Generally, outsourcing personnellogs into the outsourcing personnel access page of the web tracker, andaccesses the information associated with a given tax return. Theoutsourcing personnel will then prepare the tax return. During thatprocess, review notes may be posted to the web tracker. The ISP computersystem will, then generate an email to the tax person responsible forclearing points raised with respect to a given tax return. The taxperson then accesses the web tracker, views the questions posted, andposts answers to those questions on the web tracker. The tax person mayhave a different CPA firm access web page which it may view, providingthe responsible tax person with access to the posted review notes. Inaddition to emailing the tax person responsible for clearing points, anemail may also be sent to an administrative person within the CPA firm.The administrative person may log such question, or independently notifyother personnel within the CPA firm of the questions.

The web tracker will keep and provide to parties accessing the webtracker certain status information concerning a given tax return. Inthis regard, each of the status events described above with respect toFIG. 11 may be tracked and revealed to parties accessing the web trackerin connection with a given tax return. Some of those events may be aspecific date of completion of the tax return, which is posted to theweb tracker, and which information can be accessed by the CPA firm orthe outsourcing personnel through their respective computer systems.

1. A financial services outsourcing method for facilitating outsourcingof tax return preparation services for numerous clients on behalf of adirect service provider serving the numerous clients, the financialservices being outsourced to a given outsourcing group, the clientscomprising a first set of clients in a first country, having tax returnfiling obligations for the first country, and comprising a second set ofclients in a second country having tax return filing obligations for thesecond country, the method comprising: for the direct service provider,loading, onto a remotely accessible part of a host server, clientspecific financial files and corresponding reference materials, the hostserver providing access to a remote computer client of informationconcerning the client specific financial files and correspondingreference materials; providing outsourced personnel with limited screenshot access to the host server connected through a remote limited accessclient located outside the first and second countries, wherein thedirect service provider has control of the host server and the clientspecific financial files and corresponding reference materialspertaining to a given tax return loaded thereon; preparing tax returnsfor the clients of the direct service provider by the outsourcedpersonnel, the outsourced personnel located outside the first and secondcountries and utilizing the limited screen shot access of the clientspecific financial files and corresponding reference materials on thehost server; and monitoring and reporting to the direct service providera status of the tax return preparation during the tax return preparationperformed by the outsourced personnel, wherein the direct serviceprovider can obtain a status report in response to a status changeoccurring with the tax return preparation.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the tax return preparation services comprise individualtax return preparation services.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the tax returns are outsourced through an intermediary firm tothe outsourced personnel.
 4. The method according to claim 3, furthercomprising the intermediary firm interacting with the outsourcedpersonnel through use of a servicing computer system, and interactingwith plural direct service providers through use of the servicingcomputer system.
 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the directservice provider comprise an accounting firm.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the host server comprises a CITRIX server.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the host server comprises an ASPserver running tax software for use by plural independent direct serviceproviders provided with access to the ASP server.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the host server comprises an ASP serverrunning tax software for use by plural independent direct serviceproviders provided with access to the ASP server.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the corresponding reference materialscomprise image files of physical reference materials.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the client specific financial files andcorresponding reference materials comprise tax filer specific tax fileand image files.
 11. The method according to claim 10, furthercomprising loading onto the remotely accessible part of the host servertax preparation software.
 12. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe outsourced personnel prepare tax returns while located in India. 13.The method according to claim 1, further comprising the direct serviceprovider interviewing a tax filer and obtaining supporting documentationfor the tax filer's tax return.
 14. The method according claim 13,wherein the direct service provider comprises an accounting firm. 15.The method according to claim 13, wherein the supporting documentationcomprises last season tax return as filed, receipt, and summaryinformation regarding finances of the tax filer.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 15, further comprising the direct service providersetting up a tax file compatible with a given tax software package, andrendering the supporting documentation electronic.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 16, wherein rendering the supporting documentationelectronic comprises scanning supporting documents into image files.